Like a lot of kids, I never knew that Batman and Lost in Space were actually self-aware parodies. And I never noticed how many times The Six Million Dollar Man violated the laws of physics, or that the Dukes of Hazzard was just plain bad.
But boy, did I notice all this re-watching just a few episodes of these shows years later as an adult. In some ways I wish I had just left my memories alone.
The one exception being the first season of Space: 1999. 40+ years after viewing the original series I streamed a few episodes - and wow. Not only were a lot of things about the show as good as I remember - in some ways the show was even better. I always liked spaceships as a kid - but I never appreciated how much effort went into the intricate details of the spaceships and the moonbase itself. And unlike Battlestar Galactica and the original Star Trek, Space: 1999 did NOT extensively re-use stock footage over and over again. Pretty much every episode had new and different effects. And the sets and production values were off the charts - much better than most movies of the day.
Now on to the stories and characters. Okay, I do admit I understand why Space: 1999 was not everyone's cup of tea in this regard. In an era when we wanted our heroes to be ridiculously good, our villains to be ridiculously bad, and our plots to be ridiculously straight-forward; Space: 1999 gave us flawed heroes, multi-layered villains, and plots that were sometimes more than a bit difficult to follow. And I'll just say it - both the plots and the characters could be just a bit strange. Barbara Bain's character in particular sometimes made you wonder if SHE was an alien.
But still, it just makes me admire the show all the more for not taking the safe 70s TV route of giving us ridiculously simple-minded plots with ridiculously perfect heroes and ridiculously evil villains.
Whether it inspires you to re-watch the entire first season, if you watched any of Space: 1999 at all as a kid, I say do yourself a favor and stream a few episodes. You'll at least be impressed with the effort.
Oh, and don't even bother with the Fred Freiberger-helmed second season. THAT season is just plain terrible.
But boy, did I notice all this re-watching just a few episodes of these shows years later as an adult. In some ways I wish I had just left my memories alone.
The one exception being the first season of Space: 1999. 40+ years after viewing the original series I streamed a few episodes - and wow. Not only were a lot of things about the show as good as I remember - in some ways the show was even better. I always liked spaceships as a kid - but I never appreciated how much effort went into the intricate details of the spaceships and the moonbase itself. And unlike Battlestar Galactica and the original Star Trek, Space: 1999 did NOT extensively re-use stock footage over and over again. Pretty much every episode had new and different effects. And the sets and production values were off the charts - much better than most movies of the day.
Now on to the stories and characters. Okay, I do admit I understand why Space: 1999 was not everyone's cup of tea in this regard. In an era when we wanted our heroes to be ridiculously good, our villains to be ridiculously bad, and our plots to be ridiculously straight-forward; Space: 1999 gave us flawed heroes, multi-layered villains, and plots that were sometimes more than a bit difficult to follow. And I'll just say it - both the plots and the characters could be just a bit strange. Barbara Bain's character in particular sometimes made you wonder if SHE was an alien.
But still, it just makes me admire the show all the more for not taking the safe 70s TV route of giving us ridiculously simple-minded plots with ridiculously perfect heroes and ridiculously evil villains.
Whether it inspires you to re-watch the entire first season, if you watched any of Space: 1999 at all as a kid, I say do yourself a favor and stream a few episodes. You'll at least be impressed with the effort.
Oh, and don't even bother with the Fred Freiberger-helmed second season. THAT season is just plain terrible.
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